* * *

“What took you so long?”

Today was the first day Lavi would see Akkad in an entire week. She was sprawled out on the bed and muttering groggily. The stamina she had gained from being with Akkad had long since been depleted. Damn those sword lessons, Lavi continued muttering to herself disgruntledly.

There was a small knock on the door, and a pink head was soon seen poking through the doorway.

Lavi smiled and opened her mouth. “Akkad.”

“Lavi.”

Lavi held out her hand as if to ask Akkad to quickly come closer. Akkad walked forward, taking off his gloves as he did so like it was natural.

As soon as their small hands came together, she felt Akkad’s energy rush in.

‘Of course this moment is the best!’

Lavi exhaled, feeling as if she was going to survive for a while now.

‘What’s this?’

Suddenly, she raised her eyebrows at the rough feeling that scratched her palm. Lavi let go of Akkad’s hand and looked at his hand.

‘… those white and plump hands.’

His palms and fingers were all covered in blisters, and there was even a crust of blood under the thumb. Was this normal for someone learning to wield a sword?

“Lavi, what’s wrong with your forehead?”

“Huh?” Lavi picked up a small hand mirror next to the bed and checked the area in question. “Oh, it’s just a bruise.” It was from bumping into Allen a little too hard when she leaned her head on his shoulder. 

Akkad listened to Lavi’s words and slowly blinked his eyes, making a strange expression. Lavi was too busy examining Akkad’s palm to notice it. It was one of those moments that made her feel sad that Akkad could not heal himself.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

When she raised her head and looked at Akkad, she saw him smiling and then frowning, and was unsure why. She wondered if he’d forgotten about it and now that she’d brought it up, it was an afterthought or something.

But Akkad’s response was unexpected.

“I’m sorry. Do you think it’s gross?”

As if he had realized it too late, Akkad hesitantly tried to pull his hand away.

Gross? She asked if it hurt, so why did he answer like that? He had a look on his face that said he was worried if she really thought so after speaking to himself.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Lavi tightened her grip on their joined hands and pulled him closer.

Dimples appeared along with a clearly brightened expression.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Nope. It doesn’t hurt.”

Lavi let go of Akkad’s hand and lay down on the bed, supporting her head with one hand and playing with Akkad’s fingers laying in front of her with her other hand.

“You’re always pretty. I’m just upset that you look hurt.”

Akkad paused and turned red. His silver-gray eyes glistened with moisture.

What was this all of a sudden? She didn’t think she’d said something cry about. Did he feel offended because she said the scars were pretty? While Lavi panicked, Akkad, red to his ears, opened his mouth.

“Lavi is pretty too.”

“Thanks.” He would be good at socializing when the time came, she thought.  Lavi smiled happily, but paused at his next words.

“You’re pretty even with bruises.”

“Ugh … yeah.”

That was nice. He wanted her to believe that she was pretty even if she had a black bruise on her forehead? She just really hoped that he wouldn’t just say she was ugly like he did to Allen the other day. Lavi shakily concluded he meant, ‘You’re pretty, too.’ 

Akkad shuffled over slowly and settled in, leaning his back against the head of the bed. Then he began to tell her about the events of his past week.

“I’m having fun, though.”

“Learning to use a sword?”

“Yeah.”

Lavi had assumed he was only learning because he had to, so she was surprised. She was glad that he was having fun. She thought it would have hurt more if he had been forcing himself to learn it. 

“Okay, learn diligently so you can teach anyone who bullies you later a lesson.”

“Bully?”

“Yeah. People who bother you.”

Was there any way that could be possible with Akkad’s personality? 

“Lavi, who’s bothering you?”

 “No, I’m saying if it happens.”

In the first place, she was skeptical that someone would bother her, but she could never imagine Akkad retaliating against that person. Lavi just thought it was cute when Akkad pursed his lips and nodded with a serious face.

Lavi’s hand, which had been playing with Akkad’s hair while she listened to his story, stopped as he said something catching her attention.

“Did you say you met someone? Your cousin?”

“Yes.” Akkad nodded. So he’d met the bastard… er, she meant, he’d met his uncle’s son. Lavi’s smile turned murderous at Akkad’s next words. “He said the wounds on my hand were disgusting. And I was little.” How hurt Akkad must have been by those words. 

“Akkad, is he still at your house?”

“Yes. I heard he will stay with us from now on.”

Lavi leapt upright.  Akkad’s uncle apparently wasn’t satisfied with being the Earl of Courtney and was already eyeing the Duke of Enoch’s family seat. Why else would he shove his son, the heir to the earldom, into the Duke of Enoch’s house?

“So what else did he say?”

Akkad hesitantly backed away from Lavi, who was getting closer. 

“Huh?”

She felt like she needed to take a look at that smug face. It was clear to her that her innocent friend wouldn’t be able to handle hearing bad things.

“Akkad, get up. I’m going to sleep at your house tonight.”

“My house?”

“Yes.”

Lavi racked her brain, trying to figure out how she could sneak over to the Duke of Enoch’s residence. Maybe Allen was still outside.

“No, you can’t!”

Akkad tightly closed his lips and shook his head. Why was he being stubborn all of a sudden? It’s not that he didn’t like it, but that she couldn’t?

“Are you saying you don’t want to sleep with me now?”

“Huh? Well, that’s not it …”

“Not that?”

Lavi looked at Akkad with her arms crossed, as if asking him to speak quickly. Andrew furrowed the corners of his eyes and his lips moved. It was clearly obvious that he was thinking hard to come up with an excuse why they couldn’t. Then, when he couldn’t come up with a reason, he grabbed Lavi’s collar and began to cry as he stood next to the bed and looked at her.

“… I don’t know. I just don’t want to. Can’t I just stay here and sleep?”

* * *

After that, she tried to go to Akkad’s mansion, but she was rejected time and time again. He was so stubborn that Lavi eventually gave up. Even if she wanted to go, she’d have to secretly sneak on the carriage when Akkad returned to the mansion, so it would have been a stretch anyway.

“Then can’t I just call him out?”

Lavi grinned and took out a letter.

Akkad’s cousin… what was his name? He was the heir to the Earl of Courtney, so if she looked in the register of nobles, she would find it.

“I don’t want to bother…let’s just write.”

While Lavi was writing down the first line and wondering how on earth she was going to ask him to come, Jenny, who had brought her some milk, looked at the letter with a strange expression on her face.

 The letter began with the words ‘To Akkad’s cousin.’

Shouldn’t she have at least written the name of the recipient? Jenny, who succeeded in swallowing the words that were about to come out of her mouth, quietly stepped back and waited.

“Uuugh.”

Lavi didn’t have the ability to write a long letter with a rambling greeting, dancing around ‘why I’m writing to you’. After she thought about it over and over again, the contents were brief.

Jenny, who saw that she had scrawled only two sentences and was about to fold the letter, quickly hurried over.

“Miss. Are you sending this to the Duke of Enoch?”

“Yes.”

“I will do it for you.”

Jenny folded the letter neatly and slipped it into the envelope. Lavi hummed to herself, hoping that he would accept her invitation.

‘Now, how do I make him pay?’

Lavi, who had  gently coaxed Akkad into telling her everything that his cousin had done, laughed darkly. The harassment had been the immature efforts of a childhood bully, such as saying he was ugly, soft, what’s with your pink hair, hah you’re shorter than me, etc., but it definitely had been effective in getting an emotional response.

What enraged Lavi the most was,‘You go in and out of the Diaz Marquisate every day, the young lady Diaz won’t like you visiting so often’. 

Lavi gritted her teeth and swept her hair back.

“Miss?”

Allen patted Lavi on the back as if to tell her to calm down.

“You’re a good kid! You’re pretty, and how lovely is your hair color? How nice is the texture? You’re definitely going to be taller soon!”

Akkad’s cousin was probably about two years older, so wasn’t it just natural he’d be taller for now?

“Lord Akkad?”

“Yeah. What kind of confidence does that cousin have to say something like that to Akkad?” Lavi took a deep breath and swept a hand over her chest. “What? ‘I won’t like it?’ I just want to live with him, but this worthless X doesn’t know anything.”

The thought of Akkad crying when he heard such things made her feel even worse.  

“… who do you want to live with?” Allen asked with a bewildered expression, forgetting that Lavi had said something harsh afterwards.

 “Who else but Akkad?” Lavi raised the corners of her mouth. “When his cousin comes, I should wear comfortable clothes, right?”

Who said that when you fight, you shouldn’t look easy by dressing up pretty? Lavi had the exact opposite idea .She didn’t know what kind of personality this cousin had, but if it turned into hand-to-hand combat, shouldn’t the clothes she wore be comfortable? She also thought it would be a good idea to tie up her hair  to prevent it from getting caught and to not wear jewelry. She didn’t enjoy wearing any because it was inherently heavy, but as expected, she wanted to minimize the chance of something being grabbed.

But… that was just in case of the worst case scenario, what if they only fought with words?

“Should I threaten him?”

 Lavi seriously wondered what she could say to an eleven-year-old that would work.

It was a rather crass method, but hand-to-hand combat would be best. Even one hit would be enough to leave a bruise. Then wouldn’t someone, whether it be Duke or Duchess Enoch or her brother, step in and kick him out?

Of course, if he had a normal personality, he wouldn’t try to fight.

“Ugh! What should I do?”

Should she lace his food with laxatives? But maybe messing with food was too cheap of a prank.

Lavi quietly thought about something and got up from the chair.

Then she approached Allen, clenched her fist, and asked,  “Allen. Where can the greatest damage be inflicted with the least amount of force?”

“… What? Do you want to learn self-defense?”

“Well, I guess you could say that.”

“You won’t have any use for it.” Allen frowned and pulled Lavi into a protective embrace.

“You never know who might do something to me at the mansion.”

 His gaze worriedly scanned her body.

“Has something like that ever happened?”

Lavi was now clinging to Allen’s hand and moving casually.  Clenching her fists tightly and miming a slap, she spoke naturally, “I think it will soon.”

“Could you tell me more?”

“Huh? No. He’s not from our mansion …”

Allen’s face became more and more distorted. Lavi twisted Allen’s black hair with her fingers and slightly averted her gaze.

“So what I’m saying is … let’s be prepared just in case.”

Lavi laughed and nudged Allen to calm down. He let out a small sigh, sat Lavi down, went behind her, and leaned down.

Then his hand overlapped with Lavi’s right hand and he he swung it once. 

“No matter how much force you apply, young miss, you won’t be able to inflict much damage. If a truly unavoidable situation arises, use your weight to your advantage as much as possible.”

“Hmm.”

Lavi’s eyes sparkled.

Allen adjusted her posture several times, even with a face that asked if it was okay to do this.

“Hmm … But if you use your fist like this, you won’t be able to maintain your balance and you’ll fall.”

“Huh? Is that how it works, or are you telling me how to do that?”

“Usually, you hold on with leg strength…”

Lavi lowered her head and looked at her legs.

“You don’t have to say more…”

“If your opponent’s gender is male, then between his legs…” Allen trailed off, a confused look on his face, like he didn’t know what the hell he had started to talk about. He turned Lavi around and spoke calmly. “I will make sure you never have to do that, young miss. So, you don’t have to try to learn this …”

“Yes. It’s enough for now.”

She meant what he’d just told her was enough, but Allen didn’t realize.

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T/N: urgh…pronouns really tripped me up in this section. Still not sure things are properly attributed. Hopefully it’s close enough! One more part to go of chapter 2 and then we get another timeskip *jazz jands*

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